The Emergent Busan Opera House Plays with Space and Transparency

This particular competition has attracted some remarkable proposals, and the Emergent Busan Opera House is yet another entry that tackles the theater program in a dynamic and distinctive way. Embodying an extraordinarily irregular form, the abstract arts center exists as an architectural reference to a mountain and an aesthetic celebration of the colorful activities within.

Tom Wiscombe and his team of designers planned to sculpt the waterfront plaza with a fluid plasticity that beautifully supports the intriguing alpine edifice. The organic form of the cavernous structure mimics that of an enormous boulder with an envelope that behaves like film of soap. The Emergent Busan Opera House is not fully enclosed, creating a sheltered microclimate with the fresh air penetrating its open gaping entranceway. The vast voids within would accommodate two auditoriums that seat between 1,300 and 2,000 people.